ORAT preparations enter final stage at Istanbul New Airport

Preparations at Istanbul New Airport, Turkey, are well underway ahead of its scheduled opening on October 29, 2018.

İGA-İstanbul New Airport, the airport operator, has devised 46 scenarios with 105 different subjects and events to be examined as part of its operational readiness and airport transfer (ORAT) training. These scenarios will be trialled in the lead up to the launch, assisted by the participation of 1,000, 3,000 and 5,000 volunteers who will play the part of regular passengers in the trial events.

The purpose of the ORAT procedures is to evaluate the general readiness of facilities, systems, equipment and trained operation personnel, as well as to gather last-minute feedback from the general public.

H Kadri Samsunlu, CEO and general manager of İGA-İstanbul New Airport, said, “We will carry out three major trials in the coming month for operational preparation. A total of 9,000 people and 10 real planes will be used.

“The transfer to İstanbul New Airport will be the biggest ever airport transfer in the world as no other airport has been transferred further than 45km (28 miles). Since 2016, we have been meticulously carrying out our work regarding the transfer to İstanbul New Airport.

“At this point, we have finished training the airlines, particularly Turkish Airlines, ground services, and other stakeholders, all to ensure their orientation to the airport in the operation preparation process.”

The airport has been consulting with Copenhagen and Incheon Airports since November 2016 as part of the ORAT project. The ORAT team includes eight consultants, 60 specialists and 100 operational staff, all with aviation experience from airports, airlines or ground handling procedures.

The training stage of ORAT consisted of four stages and included 27,522 class training sessions and 28,225 field training sessions with executives and employees of Turkish Airlines, HAVAŞ, ÇELEBİ, and Turkish Ground Services.

The three trial events are:
– First trial operation (last week of September): 1,000 trial passengers, 2,000 trial pieces of luggage, around 800 staff members from operational stakeholders and public institutions, two real planes (Turkish Airlines) and 50 ground service equipment vehicles.

About Author

Dan joined Passenger Terminal World in 2014 having spent the early years of his career in the recruitment industry. As assistant editor, he now produces daily content for the website and supports the editors with the publication of each exciting new issue. When he’s not reporting on the latest aviation news, Dan can be found apprehensively planning his next DIY project.

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